Concerned over depleting underground water levels, the Punjab Local Bodies department has decided to supply canal water for drinking purposes to Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala.
Punjab Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said the need for immediate measures to check the rapid decline and deterioration of ground water has been realised by the state government.
The state government has already initiated the process of switching to surface water (canal water) based water supply for three cities of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala, an official release said.
Detailed proposals were made by the Department of Local Government under the guidance of Principal Secretary A Venu Parsad and CEO of PMIDC Ajoy Sharma for supplying treated potable water through canal in these three cities.
Sidhu said considering huge investment requirement in this project, the Punjab government has approached the Centre for arranging funds through external funding agencies such as the World Bank and Asian ...

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought the assistance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ensuring uninterrupted water supply from Haryana to Delhi until further directions from the Supreme Court.In a letter, Kejriwal requested Prime Minister Modi to persuade Haryana to continue supplying the same levels of water to Delhi that it has been supplying for the last 22 years, and to not disrupt it until the top court's decision.Kejriwal argued that if the water supply is reduced post May 21, there could be an unprecedented water shortage, and could even lead to a serious law and order situation.He further claimed that disruption in water supply from Haryana would affect the Chandrawal water treatment plant, which supplies water to New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) areas, which houses VIP zones like the President's House, Parliament, embassies and major establishments."In addition to affecting the public at large, any disruption in water supply would affect all these establishments

The DoNER Ministry has recommended to the Finance Ministry higher allocation of funds and special package for development of tourism in the northeastern region, Union minister Jitendra Singh said today.
Singh, the minister for development of north eastern region, said this after a meeting with Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons here.
The Ministry of DoNER has recommended to the Finance Ministry higher fund allocation and special package for such projects in the NE region, he said.
During the meeting, the two ministers discussed proposals for identifying new projects on priority for development of tourism in the northeastern states, an official release said.
The meeting is part of continuing inter-ministerial discussions for development of the region.
Singh said under the North East Special Infrastructure Scheme (NESIDS), the DoNER Ministry is providing financial assistance for projects of physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, connectivity for promoting tourism in ...

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh held a meeting with the Union Minister of state for Tourism (I/C) and Electronics and Information Technology Shri K.J. Alphons here today.

Acting tough, the Health Ministry has decided to name from next year onwards those health facilities which are not up to the mark on various parameters, including sanitation, waste management and infection control under its 'Kayakalp' initiative.
Also, to fix accountability at various levels, the ministry will declare names of hospitals to which patients have not given positive feedback through its Mera Aspataal (My Hospital) app.
The Mera Aspataal initiative, which aims at empowering patients by seeking their views on quality of experience in a public healthcare facility, was launched in August 2016. Patient satisfaction is the ultimate test for assessing quality of services, provided by a healthcare facility under this initiative.
"From next year, we will not only name and award hospitals which perform very well under the Kayakalp initiative but will also name those health facilities which will not perform up to the mark on various parameters, including sanitation, waste management

With India having the highest number of people in the world without access to safe drinking water (according to a study conducted by Wall Street Journal and Water Aid) Anjali Bhutani initiated a campaign titled H2OME to create a much-needed awareness for the safe drinking water.What started off as an MYP project at school, the H2OME Campaign but has grown in to something that can impact hundreds of lives, through broadening access to simple and low-cost water filtration systems. Anjali's aim is to increase the number people who have access to clean drinking water. Therefore, she has created water filter that costs under 500 rupees and allows you to purify 1 L of water at a time, taking approximately 3 minutes, in the convenience of your home-hence.Currently, according to a study conducted by The Wall Street Journal and Water Aid states that each year approximately 1,40,000 children die from diarrheal diseases, after consuming dirty water. People are blessed to be living in a planet ...

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Centre for setting up of a Chennai Seawater Desalination Plant at an Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Rs 1,800 crore.
The ODA loan agreement was signed between Ambassador of India to Japan, Sujan R Chinoy and JICA Senior Vice President, Junichi Yamada at the House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, a press release said.
JICA signed agreement with Government of India to provide official development assistance loan of 30,000 million Japanese Yen (approximately Rs 1,800 crore) for the construction of Chennai Seawater Desalination Plant.
The objective of the project is to provide safe and reliable water supply by seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 400 million litres per day and its related water supply facilities in the Chennai Metropolitan Areas.
"We are happy to announce that it would be the first case for JICA in India to support the construction of seawater ...

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide loan assistance of 8,082 million Japanese Yen (approximately Rs 500 crore) for installation of intelligent transport systems in the city.
The objective of the project under the agreement is to construct an efficient traffic system to meet increasing traffic demands in Chennai Metropolitan area by installing Intelligent Transport Systems and to mitigate traffic congestion and economic growth, a company statement said.
The project, once operational would improve travel journey and reduced queues at vital intersections in the city.
The Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been offered at interest rate of 1.5 per cent for the project activities, 0.01 per cent for consulting service and 30 years of repayment period.
"... JICA has been proactively supporting Chennai Metro's development through ODA loans. We are taking another step forward by introducing this new ..

The Centre has been actively promoting municipal bonds as a source to fund development of cities, but those with lower credit ratings may not find it a very smooth option to raise money through the same. ...